Interview: worriedaboutsatan
Since we last spoke to worriedaboutsatan, just after I’m Not/The Next Round was released, it’s been fairly relentless for worriedaboutsatan. After a four year hiatus those two tracks kickstarted a slew of releases, tours, festival appearances and now their third album Blank Tape. Not to mention working with acclaimed filmmaker Adam Curtis. I caught up with them to get an update and all the info on their new album.
(((o))): Hi, thanks for taking time out again. We spoke just after worriedaboutsatan returned after a 4 year break. Since then it’s been pretty busy. What has this period been like for yourselves?
Gavin: Pretty crazy! We’ve been doing as much as humanly possible, so it’s been non-stop.
(((o))): Even Temper was well received, did you find it was like starting over again or were original fans keeping tabs on Ghosting Season and what you both were up to away from the worriedaboutsatan name?
Tom: For us it was definitely like starting again, but in a really great way. We’d kind of got a bit fed up with the way people were treating Ghosting Season (not the listeners/fans it was the management side of things) and one night we were both in the studio about to start some recording and we just said to each other shall we do some worriedaboutsatan stuff?. It felt amazing right from there, and we had two tracks ready for release in a day or so. It was very liberating and we felt 100% in control.
(((o))): The label This Is It Forever you run has been busy with releases from both your solo projects and other artists as well. Has running a label got any easier the longer you’ve been doing it?
Gavin: haha, kind of I suppose. It’s easier because more people know about it, and a lot of people tend to stick with us, which is amazing, but harder in the sense that it’s always a lot of effort, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears goes into a lot of these releases. When you’re as DIY as we are, everything needs your attention, from making a sleeve design to buying a barcode, so it’s all very hands on and very intense.
(((o))): So worriedaboutsatan are about to release their third album. Why have you called it Blank Tape?
Tom: Ah, you do know the album is completely silent, like a blank tape, right?! Only joking. Some of the tracks that made it onto the final version have been knocking around in demo format for a few years, and it felt like we were unearthing these forgotten tapes. We were listening back to some of the live rehearsal recordings of these demos and thinking it would be good to actually transfer them to album tracks and we were working on a refurbished AKAI reel to reel tape machine at the time.
(((o))): Actual blank tapes played a huge part in my younger days. Recording stuff for mates or taping cd’s to play in my walkman. A mate once gave me a tape with Neurosis on one side Dog Eat Dog (90s rap metal) on the other side which I probably preferred for ages! Have you any fond memories of them and if you could fill a 90 minute blank tape what would you put on it?
Tom: Wow, Dog Eat Dog, eh?! That takes me back! I saw them on Top Of The Pops once! Yeah, we still love tapes! Our first tour car only had a tape player in and we had about 6 or 7 cassettes that would be on constant rotation. We had Idlewild, 2x REM, Cake, Clinic, Blink 182, Alice In Chains, and some others I can’t remember. But we were playing these tapes for YEARS going to and from gigs. And of course, growing up it was all about who had Music For The Jilted Generation on tape and it was passed around the school. If I had a 90min blank tape now Id make a mixtape of Warhammer themed fantasy battle metal.
(((o))): How did you approach writing and recording the album? Was it all done from scratch or have some tracks been around for awhile unfinished?
Tom: It was a real mixture to be honest. Some of the material had been written a long time ago in extended jam sessions that was rediscovered and some of it we just came up with on the spot. We tend to record as much as we can live or when we’re rehearsing and then listen back in the studio over a cup of tea.
(((o))): Gavin was recently involved in the Adam Curtis film ‘Hypernormalisation’ as music supervisor. How did this come about and what was the experience like?
Gavin: yeah, it was great! I interviewed him about 5 years ago for Drowned in Sound, and we just kinda kept in touch. Hes got a great ear for music, but I think he gets bored with what he has, and likes to bounce ideas off someone and get exposed to some new sounds. So my job was to send him tunes I thought he’d like for his films and stuff, so I sent down quite a bit of newish satan stuff, quite a bit of which ended up in the film!
(((o))): As well as a great opportunity to get your music heard it must be rewarding to be involved in someone’s film work you already were a fan of?
Gavin: Oh definitely, it’s been amazing to see so many people comment on it, and really enjoy the music behind it, so to be linked in any way to Adam is just incredible!
(((o))): I know Tom has done a few film scores himself but would it interest yourself or worriedaboutsatan if approached to compose original music for film or TV?
Gavin: It’s definitely something of interest for every musician. We’ve done quite a bit of that recently as a band, although it was mostly licensing our music for a few TV programmes and a film. Realistically it’s a possibility to earn money too, which is getting increasingly difficult to do these days in the music industry!
(((o))): Blank Tape features a few collaborations, how did these materialise and did you have the people in mind when putting the tracks together?
Gavin: The two that have vocals were very different I suppose. Lament was a really old song, written when we were both living in Manchester and doing the Ghosting Season thing. It didn’t have vocals on for ages, but we always knew we wanted some on. As it came to album release time, we thought we’d dig it out and ask our friends Face+Heel if they’d be into singing on it for us, which they agreed to do! This Restless Wing, however, was a really new song and wasn’t actually on the initial draft of the record. Last year Vincent tweeted that he liked Even Temper, so we kept in touch, and he expressed an interest in working with us – so we wrote the track pretty quickly, and bounced ideas off him. He did the vocal in his studio and sent it over to us, and that was that. Its an incredible performance, and one of the highlights of the album is listening to his voice rise over that bassline!
(((o))): The album is brilliant, and there is a very recognisable ‘satan sound establishing now I feel. Although, Blank Tape is a bit warmer and more organic sounding than Even Temper. Was this deliberate and how did you achieve this?
Tom: Ah thank you!!! I think were an ever changing band, and I love that. Were still learning a lot about making music and what we want to do with the equipment we have. A lot of what we do comes from improvisation and generally messing around in the studio. Sometimes we go in looking to make a techno banger but come out with a delicate soundscape of pianos and guitar. Whatever we do comes from the heart though, and everything we’ve ever recorded has been written, recorded, produced etc by ourselves. I think we’re still at a point in the band’s career were were striving to make the best record ever, and we can’t rest until that’s been done. We took a little more time with this record, and we worked in a much better environment than with Even Temper, and it gave us a lot more breathing space to explore different avenues.
(((o))): If I’m correct, field recordings and sampling of odd source material are popular techniques for yourselves. Is there anything used on Blank Tape that you can disclose that might not be immediately recognisable?
Gavin: Oh god there’s all sorts on there. Lots of voices from people that probably don’t know it’s them, a lot of rain, some birds, Tom playing acoustic guitar outside, a member of Pink Floyd, a pianist big with the techno kids plenty more too!
(((o))): What plans do you have to tour, and are you hoping to be as prolific as these last few years both with worriedaboutsatan and solo endeavours?
Tom: We have a tour booked for February next year! Were hitting the road with our good friend Sunset Graves as support and we’ll be playing about 7 gigs around the UK. I don’t see any reason why things should be slowing down anytime soon, so expect more from us in every musical way possible.
(((o))): Finally and on a more serious subject, are you concerned about what impact Brexit will have. As an artist and on a general level. Or like me are you hoping we are victims of some Charlie Brooker scripted prank and it will all be over soon?
Gavin: ah, were fucked, I reckon.
Blank Tape will be released on November 25th via This Is It Forever records.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p04b183c/adam-curtis-hypernormalisation
